updated 06:19 pm EDT, Tue March 25, 2014

Purchase by Facebook follows 75,000 Oculus Rift orders

Facebook has announced it will be acquiring Oculus VR, makers of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The agreement, worth approximately $2 billion, is split down between $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock currently worth $1.6 billion, with an extra $300 million cash and stock earn-out on top for achieving certain milestones.

Launched as a Kickstarter crowdfunding effort in mid-2012 and raising $2.4 million, Oculus VR has so far received more than 75,000 orders for the Oculus Rift, with the company having also revealed a second-generation of its developer kit last week. Over its lifetime it received a funding round of $16 million followed by $75 million, and counts gaming luminary John Carmack as its Chief Technology Officer.

Oculus Rift Development Kit 2

The purchase is said by the company to be a way to explore what the "next social and communications platform" could be. "Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow," said Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play, and communicate."

According to a statement from Facebook, Oculus will continue to operate out of its Irvine, CA headquarters, and will continue to work on the Oculus Rift platform. Facebook expects to close the transaction in the second quarter of this year.